Tibetans in India get voting rights after 55 years

An Indian woman voter shows her voting card, and her ink-marked finger as proof of voting at a polling station after casting her vote for Delhi Assembly elections, at Tuglakabad in New Delhi, on 4 December 2013.
File photo/PTI/Atul Yadav

By Shalini Nair

MUMBAI, India, 13 February 2014

The Election Commission (EC) has ordered all states to include children of Tibetan refugees in the electoral list. This is for the first time in 55 years that voting rights will be conferred on Tibetans in exile in the country.

According to the orders dated 7 February, children of Tibetan refugees born in India between the cut-off date of 1950 and 1987, as mentioned in the Citizenship Act 1955, can no longer be denied enrollment in voters’ list.

The move on part of the EC comes in the wake of an August 2013 Karnataka High Court order which paved the way for granting Indian citizenship to Tibetan refugees.

There are about 120,000 Tibetan refugees currently living across the country with their largest settlement being in Bylakuppe in Karnataka.

The Tibetan parliament-in-exile is based in Dharamshala elected by a 90,000-strong voter base spread across 53 settlements in India, Nepal and Bhutan.

The EC’s move evoked mixed reactions from the community with several pro-Tibet activists terming this as a relief for Tibetan refugees who are currently deemed “stateless”.

Karma Yeshi, a member of Tibetan parliament-in-exile, said, “Our aim is not to settle in India, but to eventually go back to Tibet. However, we cannot stop people from asserting their citizenship rights.”

Comments

There are 7 comments so far.

7.

Nyima Dolma, from Delhi, sayson 6 March 2014 at 8:10 am

I read this news paper.. But I asked at election office of local place. And they said they hadn’t received any order from upstairs [higher authorities] and central government. So we can’t do support for Tibetan. Really I feel confused and there seemed nothing we can do about this. So what do we do now? … Please ! Tell me !

6.

Sonam, from New York, sayson 25 February 2014 at 8:09 pm

This is great news for all Tibetans in India. We should take action right away and go for voting registration and be proud to be Tibetan Indian rather than Chinese.

5.

Tsering, from Varanasi, sayson 23 February 2014 at 12:09 pm

It’s a proud privilege to be part of this great nation. We must thank the chairman of the election of Commission of India who has got the wisdom to see this true state of affairs. There is no doubt that he is a true champion of minorities in India. After all Tibetans are the sole inheritor of Nalanda Buddhist tradition of India.

4.

Liana Perel, from ARGENTINA, sayson 15 February 2014 at 10:39 pm

Tibetan people deserve this, for many reasons. Not only because of their closeness with India, being neighbours forever, their sense of community, neighbourly feeling of compassion, their conduct to old people, their sense of respect to other religions, other races, their spiritual way of life, close to one’s heart …

3.

Tsering, from Dharamshala, sayson 15 February 2014 at 5:30 pm

Saw this news a few days ago. I will definitely register myself for this upcoming lok sabha election 2014. Just out of curiosity, can anyone share the link where Election commission has sent the circular to every state election commission. I couldn’t find it anywhere.

Human rights are still not for everyone in our 21st century. All nations should pursue this elementary form of respect!

The total injustice consists in a people completely ignore country. Their right of existence Tibet and its people deserve this after so many years of peaceful protest. Let it be.

1.

Rinchen Namgyal, from North India, sayson 15 February 2014 at 9:26 am

It is a great privilege conferred upon us, doubling our love, respect, and gratitude towards India. We can never deny the fact that we feel so much at home in India — but nevertheless, we should not in any case forget that we owe a lot more to Tibet and the Tibetans inside Tibet.